Happy Father's Day - Manitou Incline hike with Dad

Happy Father's Day! We're currently in Colorado which means I get to spend Father's Day with my Dad! And one of his favorite things to do happens to be hiking the Manitou Incline. Let's go! 

What are we doing awake at 6am? 

Driving to Manitou Springs! You can see the Incline going up the mountain in the background. 

The deer are out wandering around the roads early this morning. 

Dad is always looking out for us boys. Not finding any close parking spots, he dropped us off at the base and went back into town to park the car. He'll take a bus to the nearby Cog Railway and then start heading up the incline after us. We're all trying to go for personal bests today, so we're not planning to do the hike together. We'll come down together though. 

The Manitou Incline is no joke. It's a 2000 foot elevation gain in only 4600 feet distance! That's a steep hike up!  

Patrick took off a few minutes before me and I never did catch him! He beat his personal best by 6 minutes, finishing in just over 38 minutes! All that bike riding he does is giving him good endurance in his legs! 

I wasn't too far behind, clocking a little over 41 minutes. I had hoped to be under 40, but it was not to be today. It wasn't my muscles having a hard time, it was trying to catch my breath during the hike up. Both Patrick and I kept a steady pace, not stopping for a break the entire way up. 

Looking down to where we started from. 

You've got to get a picture at the top! We called Dad to see where he was at, and he was about 2/3rds of the way up. He's got an appointment later this morning that he can't be late for, so we opted to meet him further down the trail. He took to bail-out from the Incline at 1800 steps and started hiking up Barr Trail. Patrick and I started jogging down Barr Trail to meet him. 

And here's Dad! The three of us all started jogging down the trail together. 

Back over to the 1800 step bail-out on the Incline. 

Which way is faster down? The trail or the Incline? 

Dad was quick to choose. He's a fast one! 

Dad is also very social on the hill and very encouraging. Giving a friendly greeting to people going up. Telling the father's who brought their kids to the Incline today good job. Telling the kids to let their dad win. 

And now we're back down to the bottom. 

Happy Father's Day Dad! I'm glad we could spend it doing something you love!